Renshaw pulls no punches. Ready to swing in Tour Down Under.

“I think the team will come out swinging; the vibe I feel in the team at the moment is that we really want to do well at the Tour Down Under.”

So says HTC-Highroad’s Mark Renshaw, most famous for being Mark Cavendish’s lead-out man and head-butter extraordinaire. Renshaw was thrown out of the 2010 Tour de France for three perfectly executed head shots to Garmin’s Julian Dean.

That’s what makes the”come out swinging” quote so exciting. The Tour Down Under is going to be a boxing match between former teammate Andre Greipel (now with Omega Pharma) and the Cavendish crew.

As anyone who follows cycling knows, there’s no love lost between the German sprinter and the Manxman. Greipel has always done well at the Tour Down Under and now finally has his chance to be the top gun at Omega. It will be hard for either rider to resist getting that first win against a rival they dislike.

“We’ve got a really strong team for the race – if you look at the names on paper, there’s plenty of horsepower… and Cav is going well – he’s always going well,” said Renshaw. Throw Garmin-Cervelo’s Tyler Farrar and Quick Step’s Francesco Cicchi and you have a bang-up launch to the race season.

Which brings us back to Renshaw, who we’re told is nicknamed the Bathurst Bulldog. Maybe the bulldog will sink his teeth into Greipel the Gorilla. We can’t wait to see how these sprints play out.

Maybe Garmin will debut their new anti-head butt helmets with built in deflector and stabilization control. And maybe Andre Greipel has found his own Bulldog at Omega Pharma. The Tour Down Under will

Hey Matt, do you have a cool nickname, like "Mad Matt"? Not Mad literally of course, but figuratively … I guess you can't say I am "Mad Figuratively Matt" – doesn't really work when you have to explain it!

http://www.atwistedspoke.com TwistedSpoke

When I was in college I was confused about what to do in life and an attractive student named Jennifer in my pre-architecture class said I should be a critic. I said okay, what would I be a critic of? Her insightful answer? "Everything." She clearly had an insight into my core personality because her prediction has come to pass in a way. Matt